Refresh desktop icons does it hurt the pc?

Question

Hello. I am wondering does it hurt the pc to refresh the dekstop everyone once in a while?

I ask because before playing games on my pc my dekstop icons have a green checkmark or a white checkmark on them, after i play my games for a while when i exit the game all the green or white checkmarks are no longer on my desktop icons.

So i refresh my desktop but i am wondering does that hurt or help my pc?

Answer 1

Refreshing the desktop does not hurt the PC.

Refreshing (right-click > Refresh) simply tells Windows Explorer to redraw and update what is shown on the desktop, including icons and their overlays (like green/white checkmarks from sync tools such as OneDrive). It does not stress hardware, damage components, or meaningfully affect performance.

Losing the checkmarks after gaming is usually just a display/overlay refresh issue. Using Refresh only updates the view; it does not change or delete files.

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References:

• How to Arrange or Move Icons on the Desktop
• Customize the Desktop Icons in Windows
• Where have my Desktop icons gone?

Answer 2

Hello

Refreshing is safe. You shouldn't have to worry about that.

The check marks appear to be related to OneDrive, or other cloud service you use. It means your desktop folder is included in the cloud service.

I can help review/confirm this further. Please type regedit in the search on the taskbar to launch registry editor, and go to this path, then take a screenshot and share in your reply.

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders